The British Home Secretary, Pretty Patel, on Friday signed an order approving the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States. He is wanted in the United States for 18 criminal charges, including violating a espionage law. WikiLeaks responded that Assange “did nothing wrong” and was “punished for doing his job,” noting that the decision would be appealed.
The British Home Secretary has signed an order approving the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States. Of 14 days to appeal, “the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
WikiLeaks, the organization founded by Assange, responded in a tweet that the approval of the extradition is “a dark day for freedom of the press and British democracy”. WikiLeaks insisted that Assange “did nothing wrong” and that he was “punished for doing his job,” noting that the decision would be appealed. Assange is wanted in the United States for 18 criminal charges, including violation of a espionage law.
The organization attacked the British Home Secretary, saying: “It was in Patel’s power to do the right thing. Instead it will be remembered forever as a partner of the United States in its agenda to turn the investigative press into a criminal enterprise.”
The U.S. has asked the British authorities to extradite Assange so he can stand trial on thousands of secret diplomatic documents and military files he published online in 2010. He faces 17 counts of espionage and one charge of computer misuse.
U.S. prosecutors say Assange illegally helped U.S. military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal the classified documents released later, risking his life. Assange denies any wrongdoing. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Act as a journalist and as such he is entitled to freedom of expression for the publication of documents exposing misconduct by the U.S. military during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
On April 11, 2019, after seven years at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, his immunity was lifted, and Assange was detained by British police since he tried to prevent his extradition to the US, but last Friday, the UK announced he would extradite him to the US .